Chapter 76 Imitating others is foolish; those who imitate me will perish.

Su Ze left the tenth floor.

After continuous high-intensity combat, even he needed an absolutely quiet environment to recover his Stamina and mental energy.

As usual, he found an empty classroom in the teaching building.

He locked the door behind him and braced it firmly with several desks and chairs.

After finishing all this, he slowly sat down against the wall and let out a long breath.

He opened his private chat with Jiang Yuwan.

【Private Chat · Su Ze: How's the situation?】

It was almost an instant reply.

【Private Chat · Jiang Yuwan: Business is good, but not many dormitories are proactively paying the clearing fee.】

【Private Chat · Jiang Yuwan: Aside from the tenth floor, all the other floors combined currently have less than six hundred dormitories that have paid.】

Su Ze wasn't surprised by this.

【Private Chat · Su Ze: That's normal. It's still early, and most people are prioritizing their copper coins for buying materials, or they want to wait until they're sure I'm coming to their floor before paying. It's human nature to stall as long as possible.】

【Private Chat · Su Ze: By the afternoon, this number will rise.】

After all, no one really wanted to face a zombie tide of doubled size at night.

【Private Chat · Jiang Yuwan: On your end... is everything going smoothly?】

【Private Chat · Su Ze: It's alright.】

【Private Chat · Su Ze: Let Liu Yuanfang and the others rest well. Once they've rested enough, I'll need them to head out.】

【Private Chat · Jiang Yuwan: Okay, then be careful.】

【Private Chat · Su Ze: Okay, send me the floor numbers in two hours, and I'll go clear the next floor.】

Ending the communication, Su Ze closed his eyes and began to seize the time to rest.

...

In a chemistry equipment room in the Comprehensive Building.

Six ordinary boys were holding their breath as they surrounded six dormant zombies.

This was the smallest group of zombies they could find after putting in a tremendous amount of effort.

"Qifan, are... are you sure this will really work?"

The thin and small Shi Jie swallowed hard, looking nervously at the leader, Zheng Qifan, his voice trembling.

"It'll definitely work!"

Excitement and greed flickered in Zheng Qifan's eyes. He lowered his voice and spoke with certainty.

"Isn't that how that Su Ze guy does it?!"

"Exactly! I think so too!"

Lü Jiahao immediately chimed in, his face full of fanaticism.

"If he can do it, there's no reason we can't! This must be a rule exploit in this survival game!"

They were players from Dormitory 403 on the 4th floor, right across from Su Ze.

Through the peephole, they had seen Su Ze coming and going alone at midnight more than once.

They had seen with their own eyes Su Ze strolling through the zombie crowds as if those zombies couldn't even see him.

Today, the video of Su Ze single-handedly slaughtering floors had completely ignited the fires of jealousy in their hearts!

Why?

Why could Su Ze become so strong?

Why could Su Ze possess mountains of supplies and several top-tier campus belles?

Their eyes were so red with envy they were practically bleeding!

In their view, Su Ze must have discovered some shocking secret to dare to unscrupulously scavenge supplies at night that should have belonged to all the survivors in the school.

And he must have obtained some treasure to become so powerful!

And that secret, after two nights of observation, they had finally determined—was imitating the growls of zombies!

As long as they could master this "rule exploit," they could become the second Dormitory 404!

However, the midnight zombie tide was too terrifying.

In the end, they didn't dare gamble with their lives; if the imitation wasn't accurate, they'd be finished.

That was why they had found these six stray zombies during the day to practice here first.

Once they were proficient at imitating, they could scavenge the entire campus without restraint after midnight falls, just like Su Ze!

"Once we've practiced enough, we're heading out tonight!"

He Zhen licked his dry lips, fantasizing, "By then, all the school's supplies will be ours! What kind of woman won't we be able to find?"

"Yeah, and he's just one person scavenging supplies, while there are six of us. We can totally overtake him from behind. Once we're strong enough, we'll just snatch those women away!" Greed and lust filled Shi Jie's eyes.

"Stop talking! Do it!"

Zheng Qifan barked in a low voice, signaling everyone to get ready.

Their plan was to use weapons to take out five first, leaving one to practice with.

They only had three low-quality weapons, so they had to be as quiet as possible, killing three first and then two more.

Puff!

Thud!

In the next instant, three zombies were killed instantly.

However, one of them had its head smashed by Zheng Qifan's club.

The corpse hit a nearby lab bench with a loud 'bang,' making a crisp sound!

"Roar—!"

Almost simultaneously, the remaining three zombies were all startled awake!

Crimson eyes snapped open and stared at them in unison!

"Shit!" Zheng Qifan's expression changed, and he hurriedly yelled at everyone, "Don't panic! Follow me! Growl!"

He cleared his throat and let out a dry, strange rasp from his throat.

"Heh... heh heh..."

The other five also hurriedly started to imitate him.

For a moment, six different pitches of bizarre growls echoed in the equipment room.

They looked at the three zombies with anticipation, thinking they would stop as if they had met their own kind.

However, the zombies continued their stumbling but steady pace, lunging toward them!

"It's useless! Holy shit! They're coming!" Shi Jie screamed in terror.

"Fight! Fight back!"

Zheng Qifan panicked completely, grabbing his club and meeting them head-on.

The six people were instantly locked in a chaotic brawl with the three zombies.

However, they were completely thrown into disarray by this turn of events, swinging their weapons wildly at the zombies.

In the chaos, Lü Jiahao was tripped by a companion's foot and stumbled.

A zombie seized the chance to pounce, its sharp claws slashing viciously across his arm!

"Ah!"

Lü Jiahao let out a scream of agony, blood instantly staining his sleeve red!

"Save me! Save me!"

On the other side, Yan Yang was backed into a corner by two zombies. He waved his iron rod in terror but couldn't possibly block attacks from two directions at once.

Squelch—

His shoulder was ripped open by another zombie's nails, leaving three deep gashes that exposed the bone!

"Bang!"

Zhang Ming knocked away the zombie in front of him with his club. Before he could catch his breath, another zombie's claw swiped past his cheek.

Though he dodged the lethal blow, those sharp nails still left a shallow bloody mark on his neck.

"All of you fucking die!"

Zheng Qifan's eyes were bloodshot as he fell into a complete frenzy.

He exploded with all his strength, hacking away with his axe stroke after stroke.

Zhang Ming and Yan Yang, feeling the pain on their bodies, also began to slash wildly.

The other three also hurriedly smashed away with their crude homemade weapons.

Finally, after paying a heavy price, all the zombies were killed.

The last zombie's head was even hacked in two by them.

Huff... huff... huff...

For a moment, only heavy breathing remained in the room.

Zheng Qifan, He Zhen, and Shi Jie were covered in foul blood, but luckily they were uninjured.

As for the other three...

Lü Jiahao clutched his blood-drenched arm, his face as pale as paper.

Yan Yang leaned against the wall and slowly slid to the floor.

Zhang Ming's hand trembled as he reached for his neck. When he saw the smear of bright red on his fingertips, he froze.

"I... I'm hurt..."

Lü Jiahao's voice was tearful, filled with endless dread.

"Brother Fan... I was scratched too... will I..."

Zheng Qifan looked at the wounds on the three of them, his mind going blank.

Fear, like a cold tide, instantly drowned out all his logic and greed.

He remembered the countless bloody lessons shared by others in the public channel.

If you're injured by a zombie, even if it's just a tiny scratch...

You'll be infected.

You'll turn into a new zombie.

Shi Jie looked at his three companions and retreated repeatedly in fear, his steel pipe falling to the ground with a 'clang.' The look in his eyes as he watched them was filled with horror.

"You... you've been infected!"